This invention relates to the field of apparel to cover a person's body, or more specifically of a child's vest for the attachment and securing of toys and other child items.
Traveling with a child or infant often requires that the parent or guardian also bring a variety of other items to either care for or entertain the child or infant such as rattles, small toys, and pacifiers. Oftentimes, children in strollers or car seats will play with a toy or pacifier, then suddenly drop or throw the item to the ground or floor without warning to the dismay of their caretakers. The item dropped or thrown may then become dirty or otherwise rendered unusable, if not lost altogether. Parents and guardians of small children would greatly benefit from a clothing garment already worn by the child that allowed for the attachment and containment of these items, keeping the items clean, useable, and always at hand for the child.
Conventional clothing garments for children or infants cannot solve this problem because they lack the ability to suitably combine storage and containment of these items. One previous patent in particular comes close to achieving these desired results. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,313 to Goldman, a children's bib is claimed with a permanently attached toy on a removable cord. However, Goldman's patent does not solve the problem of being able to detach the toy or other object from the cord for easy cleaning and interchangeability of items. Also, Goldman's patent does not include the addition of pockets onto the item of clothing in order to provide sufficient storage and containment of the items when not immediately in use. Additionally, while other clothing articles exist to provide for storage and containment of child items, U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,170 to Lisciandro, these clothing articles are meant to be worn by the parent or guardian, and do not solve the problem of what happens after the child drops or throws the item.
The existence of vests or other clothing garments for use as storage and containment devices is widely seen in the areas of fishing and hunting garments. Several United States Patents which describe these vests include U.S. Pat. No. 1,879,341 to Lapham, U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,707 to Parker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,359 to Hanson, U.S. Pat. No. to 2,717,391 to Bracken, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,535 to Dobrzenski, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,291 to Garvey. These fishing and hunting vests allow for a wide variety of storage and retractability uses, but are not meant to meet the needs of children or infants. Similar vests and clothing garments are seen to house electronics (U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,338 to Wessling III), medical equipment (Johnsrud in U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,978), and even golfing equipment (U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,739 to Spence), but none specifically address the problem of a child dropping or throwing small toys.
Rather, this invention is a result of the unique combination of the prior related art to arrive at a functional item of child's clothing that would allow for the temporary and interchangeable attachment of entertainment or pacifying items onto the clothing apparel while also including pockets for storage and containment when the items are not in use.